Parametric cost estimating and forecasting systems are known for use in estimating software development project costs. One such system is commercially available from the Price Systems Division of the Assignee hereof. This product is marketed under the trademark PRICE-S. Characteristics of this product are described in the PRICE-S Reference Manual Copyright 1993. This manual is hereby incorporated herein by reference. It is useful for indicating the background of the invention and for illustrating the state of the art.
The PRICE-S product carries out a top down analysis based on non-cost-type input parameters which include project type, hardware type, operating environment, specification level, language and support costs if applicable. This product does not incorporate size metrics that have been developed specifically for use with object oriented software.
While known systems are useful, they have in the past tended to be marketed to and used by financial analysts or financial departments of organizations, as opposed to technical or development departments. It would be desirable to have parametric-type software estimating products oriented to meet the needs of technical managers. Preferably such products would be suited for estimating new, unimplemented object oriented software systems. It would also be desirable to be able to graphically evaluate the effects of parameter variation on project cost.